Feels Like Home
by StraightTalking
Summary: My take on Letty's return to LA after fast 6 without her memories.
1. Chapter 1

**Letty's POV**

I stood on the doorstep of 1327. This was the place I was supposed to have called home for fifteen years of my life. The night air was sharp and nipped at my face and hands. Dom carefully unlocked the door. There was a flutter of excitement in the air. Mia stood close to Dom cradling her sleeping son, but she was practically bouncing on the spot. Brian stood behind Mia and even he looked excited. There was a real atmosphere of coming home, of returning to somewhere they never thought they'd see again.

Dom opened the door then stood back for Mia, gesturing for her to lead the way. With her typically gentle grin she stepped into the hall, her low heels clacking on the tiled floor. Brian was swift to follow, carrying a Moses basket for Jack. Dom waved me forwards but I hesitated. While I'd jumped at the chance to go with them, to be a part of their family, nothing could replace the unease which lingered in my mind, the unshakeable doubt that despite their kindest reassurances I wasn't really a part of this anymore. I was a different person now, well I didn't know who I'd once been.

I stepped into the narrow hallway. The air was musty. It was the air of a house that had been too long locked up. Hot and dry. A stale, choking air. The dim light illuminated the pale cream walls. Every wall was thickly covered in pictures. Frames lined the wall and the little hall table. They were coated with a thin layer of dust. I was drawn to them and lifted one at random, a heavy glass frame. I held the frame tightly in my grasp, afraid of dropping it. I wiped the dust from the surface to see a photo of Dom and I when I looked about seventeen. I frowned when I saw the picture. I was wearing a white dress, it fell to my knees and was tied around my waist with a little black ribbon belt. My hair and makeup had been done properly. Dom was wearing a black shirt and dress jeans. It was nothing like me now. Had I once been girly? Enjoyed doing makeup? I doubted it. If I once had been like that, it hadn't stuck with me now.

Dom inched up behind me. "That was your eighteenth birthday party. Mia picked the dress and did your makeup. She wanted you to have one day in the whole year when you weren't covered in grease or had your hair tied up in a ponytail. Mia talked you into the dress and the makeup. You played along to make her happy."

I smiled at him. "There was me thinking I'd once been a princess type." My words were cutting, scathing, they reflected my personal loathing for the airhead princess girls of the world. Roll your damn sleeves up and get the job done. We didn't fight for independence to waste it fearing what might happen if we break a nail.

"You were never girly," he murmured. "Closest you've ever been to the princess type was the warrior princess. You were a new breed, a misunderstood breed. People didn't understand you cause your archetype hasn't been born yet. They all think you're just the tough chick but you're more than that. You're the chick who knows how to throw down, how to stand by a principle, make a promise and swear blind to keep it and stick to it. Yet you know how to step back, be empathetic, how to love deeply and passionately." He trailed off. His tone was gentle, almost nostalgic. His brown eyes had a distant look in them like he'd just remembered something.

I felt myself sigh. What he said was beautiful. His words held that ring of truth where I knew I couldn't not believe him. He spoke with a deep rooted care for me but also with a fear he'd unnerve me.

"Thanks," I murmured in gratitude. He was giving me parts of myself back. Things I'd thought I'd lost long ago.

Slipping into the kitchen Brian was unpacking the necessary groceries we'd bought. Then he had to make tea for everyone. An odd ritual for this family but it seemed to their time together. It was the one moment in the day when they got ten minutes to just be. They ate dinner together but usually had phones ringing or texts beeping or some other interruption. This was their time to just be together.

"I've only two more beds to make, would someone give me a hand please!" Mia called from up the stairs.

"Yeh," I called back.

I tip toed up the stairs so I wouldn't wake Jack, the little angel of the family. Mia was stood in the airing cupboard smelling the sheets as she lifted them out. Probably making sure they weren't too fusty.

"They'll do for now," Mia murmured as she piled them over her shoulder and headed for one of the bedrooms.

One look inside told me this was Dom's room. The walls were cream, neutral. Grey curtains hung at the window. The bedspread was a plain one, block grey. It told you nothing about the character that was Dominic Torreto. Wasting no time Mia started stripping the bed. Hastening myself I started helping her, the old sheets were tossed into the far corner of the room.

We worked systematically in silence. Unsurprisingly Mia's side was neater than mines but what else was to be expected? She seemed well skilled in the art of making beds seeming to be the mother of this mismatched family.

"I'll get tore into the cleaning tomorrow. This place will be normal by tomorrow night."

"I could help if you like."

"Dom's going out to the garage tomorrow, I assumed you'd want to go out with him." Mia's eyes were shining. Her silent but obvious hope I'd remember was plain. Out of all of them, she was the one who pushed the least but it was most obvious she nursed the silent hope I'd remember.

I shrugged. I didn't care what I did tomorrow. In the back of my mind I had a niggling feeling that I needed to be alone. I wasn't used to so much constant company. People were always there, always chatting, laughing. It was surreal. Nothing like what I was used to at all.

We moved through to the smaller room next door. It had been vacant longer than Dom's room, that much was obvious. Despite its sparse decorations it did not lack in character. A black scuff mark was smeared on one cream wall. A mirror hung from the wall opposite the door. The smell of grease lingered in the room. The wardrobe door had stains from oil covered fingers. Everything about the room seemed to suggest the owner was restless. Nothing was organised. Drawers lay half opened and clothes spilled out of some. It looked like whoever had been in here last had raided the room in search of something.

"This was your room for years," Mia murmured gently as she started stripping the bed.

I nodded slowly. "I thought so," I trailed off. Something about the room was familiar.

"Yeh, this was your room from when you turned fourteen. You wouldn't move back to Mexico after your Mom died so Dad said you could live with us," Mia said with a grin. "This was your room until you turned eighteen..." She paused and mulled over her next words carefully. "Well I suppose it has always been your room. Some of your stuff never made it to Dom's room."

I chuckled it was typical. My lazy ass approach to a relationship. It was odd though. There seemed very little in here anyways. I probably left what I couldn't be bothered with here. It was probably my safety net, if things with Dom went wrong I still had this room. This room which I'd never relinquished my claim of.

We made the bed moving in almost perfect sync. The duvet on the bed was a deep purple colour with a faint design, faded from years of sunlight.

"You okay?" Mia asked as she tucked the sheets on her side.

"Yeh, you?" I asked.

"Course." Mia paused and motioned for me to pull up the duvet. I smoothed it out.

"I was thinking tomorrow night we should have a barbecue before Roman and Tej head off again," Mia chirped quite content.

"Yeh good idea. I'd like to get to know them better." My words sounded false. They were the words of a woman desperate for friends.

Mia grinned. "Dom loves a good barbecue, as does Brian. I'll need enough food for a small army." Her delighted giggle gave away her obvious delight at doing something for her family.

She led me back down the stairs and into the living room. Four mugs of tea lined the coffee table and Dom had settled into the armchair. Brian had taken up a cozy position on the sofa. Mia eagerly joined him and I sat awkwardly in the other arm chair.

No one said anything for a long moment, instead preferring to bask in each other's company and the widely felt relief at finally having a permanent place to call home. I busied myself taking in the details of a photograph hanging on the wall. It was of seven people. At the right was a guy with dark hair and tattoos up one arm. He stood with the swagger of a man who was arrogant. He had a half smirk on his face, as if amused by something that no one else was aware of. Dom was sat on the hood of the red Mazda wearing all white with the cross necklace he had given me in London. The necklace which had stirred a vague flicker of recognition in me. But why it was familiar I could not tell. His muscled arms were wrapped around my waist, claiming me like I was his property. I was sat on one of Dom's legs. My legs bare beneath my black leather skirt. I wore a bored expression on my face as though I had been waiting forever for the photograph to be taken. Brian sat next to Dom and looked fresh faced and innocent. Almost baby faced and in stark contrast the the rougher more ready looking men of the photo. Mia sat beside him looking the polar opposite to me. Her head inclined towards Brian showed her deep rooted care for him. She was sort of smiling. Between Brian and Mia another man's face was just visible. He too looked bored by the events. To the far right stood a blonde kid. A scrawny scrap of a man. He looked restless. There was something about him. Something I liked.

"Who's in that photo with us?" The words spilled from my lips before I could stop them.

Dom and Mia turned to looked at the photo. Dom stood up and lifted the frame from the wall and brought it over to me. His slow careful stride almost suggested to me I could ask him to stop if I wanted to.

He sat awkwardly on the arm of my chair and pointed to the guy with tattoos, "That's Vince. He was my best friend, we grew up together. We met in third grade. You met Vince the first time when you were about eight, just after you moved here. Then that guy between Mia and Brian is Leon. Then the blonde guy is Jesse. I met those guys at street races. They kind of moved in here not too long after."

I chuckled. Dom was almost like gravity. He just drew people in. From the moment I'd saw him in London he had stirred something in me. Something I could never remember another person touching. There was something about him. When I laid eyes on him, my stomach twisted and I'd wanted to talk to him. I felt almost loyal to this unknown man. This handsome guy. Then he'd said my name, _"Letty,"_ in an accent so similar to my own. The word had rolled off his tongue like a caress, an easy familiarity that I'd never heard my name used with before that I'd panicked. Without thinking I raised the gun I was holding and shot at him, without aiming. I shot him because I was scared at the feelings he stirred in me. He made me feel more alive than anyone else ever had and it scared me. He stumbled back and I scrambled back into my car and like a coward I ran from him because I was scared of the strength of the emotions he made me feel.

"Sounds like life was always interesting here."

Mia nodded. "Never a dull moment, always something happening."

Brian thought. "My favourite moment in this house has to be the night I met Dom. Dom and I pretty much hiked the whole way back here until we managed to catch a cab. When we got back Dom took Vince's beer and gave it to me."

"That was the start of it all," Mia says with a sigh. She glanced affectionately at Brian but there was a touch of regret in her eyes like it all should have been simpler. While I know she wouldn't trade what she has now for the world, she craves the security she once had.

"Yeh the buster was officially initiated into the team." Dom's gravelly baritone growled in the silence of the room.

I smiled. "How did I come to be part of the team?"

Dom pondered for a second. "You moved here when you were eight and quickly became Mia's best friend. Then when you turned ten you developed a serious obsession with cars. By the time you were fourteen you were a regular fixture in my Father's garage, working beneath the hood of cars, mapping out the inside of the engine so you knew it well. Your skills got better every day. You turned fifteen showed up at your first street race and I fell for you that night. After that night when you pulled me out of the wreckage of that car. There was no doubt in my mind I needed someone like you in my life permanently. After that night you were part of the team officially but without you the team was nothing anyways."

Mia giggled. "The team was nothing but you and Vince thinking that you were cool."

Dom rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"The team was just Vince and Dom mucking about in the garage, racing every Saturday. Then when Letty became an official part of it it became more about loyalty," Mia explained.

Dom nodded in assent.

I was intrigued. They spoke so highly of everyone they loved. It was awe inspiring. I loved being immersed in this family ethic. After eighteen months of practically being alone in the world it was amazing to know there would be someone there for me even if things went awry.

My tea was starting to go cold so I started gulping it back inelegantly. In a way I wanted to leave them alone. I wasn't used to having people around so it made me wary to be around anyone for too long and they were a proper unit. They'd stand united now and forever in a way I never could with them unless I remembered.

"I think I'm going to hit the sack," I said as I stretched. I was feigning being more tired that I actually was.

Dom nodded as did Brian. Mia smiled.

"It was a long trip," Mia murmured gently.

I left first, leaving my cup with Dom. I trudged up the stairs to what was once my room. Kicking off my boots. I peeled off my jeans I left them on the floor along with tank top. I slid into the bed. It was warm, softer than the bed I'd slept in for the last year. The pillows were feather and so soft I couldn't help but sink into them.

Sleep did not come easy. I heard every creak as everyone headed up to bed. First was Mia, her feet feather light on the stairs and sighing as she opened her bedroom door with a soft creak. Brian followed about ten minutes later, his footsteps slightly heavier on the wooden stairs. Lastly Dom made his way up the stairs, I could hear his heavy footsteps. They were even as they hit each step and he paused outside my door. He murmured goodnight but I pretended to be asleep in case he'd come in and try to talk to me one on one. The most extended conversation we'd had was when I'd asked Dom how he'd known there would be a car there to break our fall and he'd replied I didn't. Some things you just have to take on faith. Beyond that we'd exchanged few words without Brian or Mia or someone else able to chip in as part of the conversation.

After that I lay for hours in the darkness waiting for sleep to overwhelm me. Unfortunately it did not come for another few hours.


	2. Chapter 2

**Letty's POV**

I rose the next morning early, took a quick shower then threw on denim shorts with a frayed bottom and a black tank top. I rummaged through some of the drawers in my old room and found dog tags like ones a person would receive from the military. Holding them in my hand for a long moment I examined them. The silver was embossed with faint initials. A military stamp on one. I placed the chain on top of the dresser and kept rummaging. I found several envelopes of cash. The thick brown envelopes were all carefully sealed and labelled with random figures. I slipped them back where they belonged, beneath what had once been my stuff. Nothing more caught my eye bar the photos on top of the dresser. I wouldn't have described myself as a sentimental person but clearly I was. There was a photo of Mia and I as young children about eight, sat on the hood of a 70's charger. Another showed Dom and I sat at the head of a table, just cuddled up as we ate. The last one was a simple one of Dom and I on a beach. We were lazing on a beach towel and I was wearing a white bikini. It was the most recent of the photographs. I'd guess it was taken about two years ago, judging from how old I looked. With a moments hesitation I took some money out of one envelope and slipped it in my back pocket. Was it stealing if it had belonged to you in another life?

I crept down the stairs, holding my sandals in one hand. For some reason I didn't want to wake anyone. I made toast and ate leaning against the kitchen counter, staring out the window at the back yard. Had we held parties out there? I know Mia had mentioned barbecues, had they been heaving with people or quiet family affairs?

My stream of thoughts was interrupted by the recognisable even footsteps of Dom. I started slightly unused to being joined for any reason other than business. In London I'd kept a wide berth between myself and the team. Here there was no line between team and family, the two words practically synonymous with each other, and I knew of struggle to adjust to the blurred line.

"Mornin', Dom murmured as he started moving around making coffee.

"Mornin', I replied stepping out of his way idly, somehow knowing how much counter space he'd need without knowing how I knew it.

He didn't say much for a long moment. "I got the keys to an old car of yours Let, it's an M3."

For a second I was taken back by his comment. "Is it mine?" I asked like a disbelieving child on Christmas morning.

He chuckled. "Course Let. It was your in between cars car, I suppose. You didn't like it much but you sold the Cobra years ago, the Nissan was swapped for the carcass of a Plymouth which you pored your soul into rebuilding. The M3 was more a standby, to win races to finance your real cars."

Shaking my head I laughed. I didn't doubt him for a second. It sounded like me. I just had to have a car to be working on. Yet I needed a car to drive in the meantime. Typical. I dudnt doubt the M3 had been as necessary as a hole in the head, that is entirely unnecessary. Totally unneeded because there was plenty of cars here.

"What's she like?" I asked Dom, trying to keep the easy conversation going.

"The M3?" Dom frowned as he thought. "She's beautiful, carbon black E92 M3 GTS. She has a 4.4 litre V8 engine and does nought to one hundred in eight point five seconds. Then obviously you tweaked her a little. She runs a bit better than what BMW made. She's a powerful machine so be careful in her."

I grinned at him. "Was I ever careful in her?" I meant it as a joke.

He shook his head sadly. "I always wanted you to be careful in her but who was I to tell you how to drive her? I was no better."

I grimaced. I didn't think I'd been careful in a car ever.

Mia appeared in the doorway in a flowery sundress and sandals. Her hair had been straightened perfectly and she was smiling broadly.

"What are you two going to do today?" She chirped happily.

"Garage."

"I might go for a drive," I said.

Mia nodded and Dom handed me the keys to the car. It was parked in the driveway. He'd obviously been to pick it up. I said goodbye and headed off.

I slipped into the comfy black leather seat. The inside was immaculate. It was beautiful. I bet she purred too. I turned her over and the soft hum of the engine filled my ears. She purred softly as I reversed onto the street. The noise was intoxicating. I could only imagine when she raced she practically roared and spread thick black reek.

I cruised into central LA following the sign posts. It was buzzing with life. I sat in thick traffic and actually regretted bothering to come out this length. Behind the tinted windows I watched as people hurried across roads and rushed about their day, never stopping to chat, just continuing with their day. It was so unlike England. In England people said hello and smiled as they went about their day. It was just different cultures.

I wound up at the beach. It was almost relaxing. The sun was high in the sky and I went and sat on the beach, on a slope so I could see in all angles around me. I glanced back at my M3 and it reminded me of what a guy had said to me in England one time, " _if you don't look behind yourself after you park your car, you're driving the wrong car_." That had always stuck with me. If you don't look behind you then do you truly care about what you've left behind? Then if you're left with nothing how can you look behind? Until now I'd convinced myself I needed to live in the here and now and react to my world as events unfolded. Now I was in LA I wasn't so sure. Who was I without memories? How could I stay here with those people who so clearly loved the person I had been? The person I might not even be now.

Basking in the sunlight I let myself think. Think about all the things I'd been avoiding thinking about. Why had I even come to LA? It had been an impulse. A whim to be with the guy who stirred in me such a strength of feeling that I just wanted to be with him. There was something about him, something I knew I wanted to know more about. When Shaw had shown me the photo of Dom and I, I'd almost sighed. I'd known him. This guy could tell me about myself. Maybe with him I'd find out who I was. I suppose I'd come to find myself in the muddle that was my life.

Running my fingers over the sand I thought long and hard. I didn't miss England that much. The place hadn't felt like home. I hadn't felt safe. We were constantly running from someone or something we'd just done. I didn't miss feeling like I needed to look over my shoulder to see who or what was chasing me. At least here I knew there was someone looking out for me. I didn't miss the seemingly constant drizzle of rain or the intense loneliness. However I missed what I had known for eighteen months, the familiarity of knowing where everything was.

Turning my face up to the sun I closed my eyes. This was incredible. I loved the sun, the heat.

After three I started considering heading back to the house. I knew everyone would be lazing around. Brian had mentioned maybe taking Jack a quick trip around the city, let him see his new home. Mia would be cleaning all day. Dom would be holed up in the garage. I didn't know where to go.

I got up and dusted the powdery sand off my legs so I wouldn't muck up the inside of my car. As I opened the door a guy whistled at me. Rolling my eyes for such a disgusting practice, in my own view, I ignored him. Why did guys think women wanted to be objectified? I didn't like being demeaned to the status of a plaything.

He whistled again this time for my attention. Defiantly I ignored him. I got into the car anyways. Behind the safely of the tinted windows I cast my eyes towards the whistler. He was short with a misplaced arrogant swagger.

I drove back to the house enraptured by the purr of the M3's engine. I loved it. Even as I sat in traffic the noise was soothing, a purr I knew I could get used to.


	3. Chapter 3

**Letty's POV**

As I pulled into the driveway I realised that everyone had made it back before me. I wasn't at all surprised. Roman and Tej were sat in the backyard drinking Coronas already. Dom was overseeing the barbecue on top of which enough food was frying to feed a small army.

I headed into the kitchen and stood for a moment not knowing where I belonged in this, well family dinner. Did I belong on the faded deckchairs with Tej and Roman, drinking and chatting? Did I belong by the barbecue beside Dom? Did I belong in the kitchen with Mia? I doubted that however, I didn't feel like I ever belonged in the kitchen.

"Letty, I could use a hand," Mia trilled as she returned to the kitchen carrying laundry.

I nodded. "Sure, what would you like me to do?"

"Firstly I need you to change, it's cold outside now," Mia said with a cheeky grin. "Then I need help in the kitchen."

I sighed and went off to change. I grabbed a pair of black jeans with a gold leaf pattern down one leg and a clean black tank top. It looked fine. I grabbed a pair of combat boots and laced them up. Mia was right. It was getting cooler.

I returned to the kitchen and Mia started showing me how to make her famous sticky chicken.

"So, how much of this do I add?" I asked as I waved a jar at her.

"Just a teaspoon."

A cry sounded from upstairs and Mia flew off to fetch her pride and joy. Her beautiful blonde haired Angel, Jack. I wasn't all that fond of babies but he was enchanting. There was something in his bright blue eyes that made me melt. Every time I saw him I wanted to cuddle him. Maybe it was because he didn't know me, couldn't compare me to what I was or what I had been because all he knew was me as I was now. I liked having someone who didn't compare me to anything. At least with him I had a completely fresh start.

Mia returned carrying Jack on her hip, looking as though it came naturally to her. His face was red and puffy from tears but he'd clearly stopped crying when he'd seen his Momma.

"Will you hold him for me please, just so I can finish up here?"

"Sure."

I took Jack uncertainly, I usually avoided all children like the plague. Taking him in my arms felt weird. Instantly he latched on to me. Next thing I knew one of his chubby hands got tangled in my wavy dark brown hair. He tugged at my hair whilst I laughed.

"Jack, you know we don't pull hair," Mia clucked from the counter.

"He's okay Mia."

"No, he needs to break that habit," she said with a sigh.

I tried to shake my head in disagreement but it didn't happen thanks to Jack's surprisingly strong grip.

I was drawn to the window, which overlooked the back garden. The boys were stood, each of them clutching a Coronas and standing laughing beside the barbecue. They were too engrossed in their conversation to notice me watching them.

As unlikely a group to look at, there was something about them that looked so natural together. They all bounced off each other without thinking, no one taking sharp words to heart, no one throwing old resentments out there for the sake of it and no one hating Dom for dragging them all to London where their safety had been in serious question. It was like they filled the holes that existed in their lives with each other. An odd but perfectly complete family. Their love even embraced me and I knew I loved them, but I couldn't explain how I knew it. I just did.

Without thinking I asked Mia, "Is it always like this around here?"

"Like what?" She asked as she frowned.

"Like this, so relaxed?"

She grinned and carried on, dicing up vegetables for kebabs, "Pretty much. Everyone just takes it a day at a time and doesn't worry too much as long as their family is okay and there's a fast car in the driveway."

Her comment made me laugh. I hated my laugh. She joined me, her high pitched laugh blending with my low pitched husky one.

She carried the food on plates out to the boys to cook then set herself about cleaning up the kitchen.

I brought Jack outside to Brian. Brian looked something like your stereotypical good guy with his blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He had an easy going manner about him that I quite liked and he was definitely a great father to Jack and a doting husband to Mia, something I couldn't deny made me warm to him even more than I already had.

"Hey buddy," Brian's voice turned mushy as he looked at Jack.

Jack instantly reached out for his Daddy and a gorgeous smile spread across his face.

"So Letty, how are you?" He asked.

"Good, you?"

"Yeh good."

We stood in silence for a moment. Brian always seemed uneasy around me, continually apologising for putting me undercover when it wasn't his fault. Nobody made me do anything I didn't want to. I'd gone to him and forced him to put me undercover. If you viewed it through his eyes It was as though he had begged me to go undercover. That wasn't the case I'd done it in an attempt to bring Dom home.

"Hey Brian?" I asked.

"Yeh?"

"Call me crazy," I began, "But I can feel that I'm a part of this, well family. I know I love you guys and I'd die for you in a second but I can't remember why and it's confusing the hell out of me. Especially Dom, God Brian, I know I love him. I know I do. I just don't remember everything we've been through and it's killing me a little. He looks at me with those eyes and I hate myself for not knowing, not remembering him."

"Let, no one expects you to remember. You'll remember when you're ready, it's all good. We're just glad to have you here with us."

I smiled at him, feeling slightly relieved. "What was I like without him?"

"Without Dom?" Brian asserted, glancing at me. I nodded. "Letty, you were a shell of yourself. You weren't you. Damn, when you turned up at my apartment that night you looked like you'd lost part of your own being. Without him, you were struggling. Everything about you looked resigned to life. To me, Letty Ortiz, was a fighter but without Dom a lot of your fight had vanished. As you begged for me to let you go undercover, your voice was hard with determination and your eyes lit with your famous fighting spirit. I've never seen someone want something for another as much as you wanted him to come home. Always ready for a throw down you cajoled me into going undercover and I conceded."

I flushed slightly with colour, embarrassed that a guy had driven me to my breaking point. That my whole world had been shattered by his disappearance from my life. It made me feel better in a way, to know I'd always been crazy about him and only him.

"Thanks for telling me that."

He smiled in reply and shifting his weight balanced Jack comfortably on his hip.

I drifted away from him and lifted a Corona from the full cooler which was sat on a weather beaten picnic table. The white paint was peeling and the wood slightly splintered but it was still classy looking for some reason.

Easy conversation carried on around me as I drank my first beer of the evening. The smell of the chicken rose making my mouth water and soon everyone was begging Mia to check if it was ready or not.

"Nearly," Mia said with a grin before heading back into the house to lift the plates of potato salad and chips from the counter.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway, distracted me. Out of the car got Elena and Hobbs.

On our journey back to LA I had gathered that Elena had helped Dom recover from my "death" and had reminded him it was okay to love someone else again. As little as they'd told me about her, I knew she was someone special to Dom. She couldn't not be special to him. She'd done a lot for him and in many ways for us. Many other women would not have stepped aside so gracefully when their boyfriends dead girlfriend was miraculously resurrected. I needed to thank her.

As Hobbs moved towards Dom I made my way towards Elena.

Her brown eyes widened as she looked at me and she shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Elena," I began, trying to think of what to say. Out of nowhere the words came to me. "I want to thank you for everything you have done for him and for us. It takes an amazing woman."

"He is an amazing guy." Her tone was light with a slight Brazilian accent leaking through. She grinned as she looked at him and Hobbs talking to each other. You could tell she admired Dom, maybe even loved him.

"Yeh, he is." I glanced over my shoulder to look at the guy who I had inexplicably managed to fall for without him even trying. His muscular build looked nearly unimpressive when placed beside Hobbs but I could almost imagine those strong hands wrapped around my waist, carrying me up the stairs...

"Try to keep him out of trouble," Elena requested with a sad smile. Her joke almost a plea for his safety even though I doubted Dom could promise his own safety.

"Well you know that's not gonna happen." I chuckled. If we were as alike as I was assuming we were, there would be no keeping either of us out of trouble, especially if we were together.

"Yes, I know."

Somehow that was all we needed to say to each other. With a nod of the head, I headed back up the driveway. I felt good having thanked her. If it were not for her maybe the Dom who stood just beyond me wouldn't be who he was. People in our lives shaped us and I could tell she had shaped him for the better.

For a second I leant back against my M3 and studied her. I could see why Dom, well any man, would have loved her. Elena was soft to my sharp, all angles to my curves and beautifully blonde to my dark waves. I doubted she ever threw down with Dom and I doubted she'd been little less than agreeable to him. I would have guessed loving her had been different to loving me. It would have been less dramatic, easier as there'd be no need to try and blur out someone's rough edges. I doubted she was ever angry. We were as different as any two women could be.

Hobbs and Elena left as unexpectedly as they'd arrived.

Dom came to stand beside me and he lowered his voice so no one could hear him.

"Any of this feel familiar to you?" He asked, his eyes daring to light themselves with hope.

"No," I admitted as I looked up at him to see the hope vanish from his eyes. My stomach twisted uncomfortably as I realised I'd hurt him. I didn't mean to hurt him. "But it feels like home."

A grin spread across his face as my words sunk in. "That's good enough for me."

It was good enough for me too.

Everyone moved to sit for dinner and Roman grabbed a chip out of one of the bowls.

"First bite, he's got grace!" Brian declared. "House rules man, house rules!" He pointed at Roman, grinning ear to ear like a child.

Roman looked as baffled as I felt. I could never remember saying grace before a meal. It just wasn't done in London and well I didn't remember a time before that.

We sat down around the table and hands were stretched out to clasp each other's. Dom patted his lap and I nodded. This would be weirdly nice. It felt good to be part of something bigger than just myself. To have a family ethic surrounding you filled with trust, love and understanding instead of fear, lies and discontent. There was something beautiful about it and I felt safe for the first time in over a year, almost two years.

"Father thank you for the gathering of friends, Father we give thanks for all the choices we've made because that's what makes us who we are, let us forever cherish the loved ones we've lost along the way; thank you for the little angel, the newest addition to our family, thank you for bringing Letty home, and most of all thank you for fast cars."

In unison everyone said amen. His prayer was lovely but the ending was typical. Oddly poetic coming from the loud and sometimes crude Roman Pearce. However it was not to be questioned as everyone took up their plates and started eating.

For the duration of the dinner I stayed perched on Dom's lap, drinking in his attention and loving every second I spent with him. His left hand rarely moved from the base of my back and I had to admire his dedication as he practically ate his whole dinner with one hand.

After dinner the chat flowed easily until late that night. Without speaking everyone seemed to sense it was bedtime.

As we headed back into the house, Tej and Roman said their final goodbyes and left us. I was glad to fall into my bed. I buried myself beneath the covers. More comfortable than last night. For the first time in a long time, I slept the whole night through.


	4. Chapter 4

**Letty's POV**

A few days passed uneventfully before Dom dragged me out to the garage with him. My eyes widened as I saw the enormous garage and the hundreds of tools. The place twisted my gut as I raked my eyes longingly over every surface. The oil spots on the floor made me grin as I looked at them. This place looked well loved as if a lot of busy, happy hours had been spent here. Parts of an engine were stacked up in the corner and I wanted to sit on the floor and examine it. See what kind of car it was from.

"You okay?" Dom murmured.

"It feels familiar," I murmured. My fingers were itching to fiddle beneath the hood of a car. The one thing I had a real connection with.

"That engine is for a Plymouth," Dom said as he followed my gaze. "I thought that if you wanted, you could rebuild it... Maybe that's a stupid idea."'

"I'd like that," I said gently as I touched his arm cautiously, unsure of how comfortable he was with me being so close to him.

His smile was enough to make my heart flutter with happiness.

We settled in for a days work. I wrote a list of the parts I'd need for the Plymouth and ordered them at Harry's. Then I stuck into the engine feeling happier than I'd felt in a long time.

"Let, I think we'd need to head home," Dom announced at half five. I'd been working since ten this morning.

"Yeh, lost track of time."

Dom shrugged. "We all do."

We returned to the house where Mia was cooking. Jack was sat in his walkie and was something of a health and safety hazard as he zoomed in the most uncoordinated fashion possible around the kitchen and into the hall.

"That's a boy!" Dom laughed as Jack raced around the kitchen giggling and dribbling.

"Letty would you pick him up for me please," Mia asked as she started serving dinner.

Carefully I lifted Jack. His warm weight nestled into my side instantly. He wasn't overly heavy and I smiled as he babbled. Dom rested his hand on my back and stood with me for a second then sighed as if longing for something then he moved on.

That night we headed up to bed and I was totally wiped out. It had been the most I'd done in a day since I had returned to LA. I stripped down to my underwear and fell into my messily made bed. I fell asleep in seconds.

I woke with a start after three, cold sweat running down my neck and back. Raising my hand I felt the beads of sweat beneath my palm. Sticky. It wasn't even overly warm. I knew I hadn't been dreaming.

"Letty." The voice was pained as it whispered my name. I blinked a few times to wake up then I heard my name again. This time the voice was more pained and it sounded like a genuine cry of anguish that I was missing and they were seeking me out.

I hopped out of the bed and grabbed a t shirt out of one of the drawers. Tip toeing out of the room I followed the voice. It was coming from Dom's room. I rapped the door gently but received no answer. Carefully I pushed the door open. He was sprawled across the bed muttering and tossing and turning. His face was screwed up in pain. Hesitating I tried to decide what to do. Did I wake him or not? This time he cried my name out properly, "Letty!" His voice was hoarse. That made my mind up. I shook him gently awake.

He jumped and sat upright straight away. I leapt backwards so he didn't break my nose. Quite possibly one of the few bones I'd yet to break. I didn't fancy black eyes for a couple of days. Carefully watching my space from him I sat away from him but close enough so he'd hear me whispering but not close enough to scare him when he woke properly.

"You okay man?" I whispered as I shuffled closer to him.

With one shaking hand, he reached out and cupped my cheek. His thumb ran itself across my lips. The gesture had a lingering feeling to it, a familiarity only born of years together. Years which I couldn't remember.

"Letty," he murmured. His eyes were wide with panic and fear darkened them about three shades.

"Yeh it's me." I forced a smile but I wanted to ask him about his dream.

"Yeh it's you."

We sat in silence, him still cupping my cheek.

"You going to tell me what that dream was about man, or are we gonna sit here all damn night?" I asked him.

Dom shrugged and removed his hand from my cheek. In the slightly cooler air of the night I could feel the sweat from his palm on my cheek.

"I was dreaming about you. Your death haunts me." His voice softened in a way I'd only heard it when he'd been talking to Jack.

"Well, don't let it haunt you anymore, I'm still alive."

He chuckled. "That is the one miracle I'm ever going to get in life, isn't it?"

"Yeh it is. You best make the most of it." I flushed with colour in the safety of the darkness of the room. The one miracle he'd get in his life was getting me back. He was corny in his compliments. He considered getting a girl back who barely remembered him to be a miracle. It was sweet. Other people might have considered it a cruel twist of fate it was getting a portion of someone back when you'd been promised the whole package beautifully intact. Yet that was Dom, he took everything as it came and was grateful for what he had.

He shook his head and even in the darkness of the room I saw the smile which stretched across his face.

Without thinking and doing what felt natural to me, for no explainable reason, I leant in to kiss him on the forehead. As my lips touched his forehead I couldn't help but feel like I'd done something right. His hand reached out for my waist and curled around it, pulling me closer. Panic welled up inside me and I pulled away from him.

I slipped out of the room with my cheeks flushed with colour and my heart racing. Why did I do that? I had no reason to want to chase after him and be near him, but I did feel the need to want to be with him a lot. He was loveable in his own way with his real manners and beautiful smile.

Back in the safety of my room I closed the door and fell back into bed. Except this time I didn't sleep as soundly I dreamt.

 _"Hey Let!" Dom's voice rang through the hallway._

 _I was sat at the kitchen table surrounded by pages upon pages of bills. They were written on in my scrawling handwriting. It became apparent to me it was the garages paperwork. A calculator sat to my left and a pen rested between my second and third fingers._

 _"Yeh?"_

 _Dom appeared beside me and sat down. "What's wrong?"_

 _"It's not adding up," my reply was blunt. I could feel my forehead creasing as I flipped through pages upon pages of bills._

 _"I figured out why..." Dom sighed. He looked worried._

 _I tilted my head in interest and nodded for him to continue._

 _"Because we're not turning out enough cars. We need to do more hours..."_

 _I groaned. We were already working back to back. Twelve hour days with no real breaks. There was little else we could do._

 _"Or we can go on a job that Tran has offered me..." Dom began. He hesitated as he chose his words with care._

 _"A job with Tran Dom? You've lost it completely," I snapped. Then I lowered my voice. I realised Mia was upstairs and didn't know the extent of the money problems Dom and I dealt with. We kept it behind closed doors. I sat at the table late at night after she went to bed. I hated not telling her but she didn't need to know. She'd only panic and worry._

 _Dom shrugged. "Let, at this point you and I are out of options... The Nissan nor the Mazda are ready for racing and you sold the Cobra two years ago..."_

 _"I sold the Cobra to pay bills Dom. I'll sell the Nissan." My own stubbornness wouldn't let him drag us down the criminal path. He'd been to Lompoc once and as far as I was concerned he wasn't about to go back._

 _"Let, we try this once. It'll be well paid."_

 _My resolve wavered. Once. He looked sure about this. I knew from the set of his jaw he was determined. More determined than I was to be entirely honest._

 _"Ride or die?"_

 _"Ride or die," I repeated._

 _He kissed me and I melted. Soon I was pressed against the wall with my hands fumbling with his belt and his hands pulling at my jeans. It would be an adrenaline rush I conceded._


	5. Chapter 5

**Letty's POV**

I woke with a jump. I was plagued with dreams. Dreams which until this one had been full of people with nameless faces and blurry features. This one was about Dom. It was weird because it felt real. There was a ring of truth about the dream, a strange familiarity. Since I'd lost my memory I'd struggled with trying to decipher what was real and what was fake. I didn't cling to dreams because I had no way of judging if they were real or not. That one felt weird.

I got up and started getting ready for the day. It didn't take long. Bundling my hair up in a messy ponytail I made my way downstairs. It was already bustling with life. Jack was sat at his high chair guzzling as Mia made breakfast. The smell of bacon and sausages filled the air.

"Morning!" She chirped as she caught me trying to creep into the kitchen.

I grunted in reply. I wasn't a real morning person. Dreaming hadn't helped. Flashes of what could have been memories weren't good for me. They would slowly drive me crazy. With a bit of my usual carelessness I shook the dream away from my mind and cast it into the recesses to be hidden until further notice.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and leant against the counter. It took little to irritate me in the morning. My head was swimming. I struggled to think of what I could do today. I still didn't know this place well. I wanted to know every inch of LA like I'd known London. It was useful to know the corners of the city well because that's usually where all the interesting characters are.

"You're up early Let," Mia remarked as she sat down to feed Jack.

I shrugged. "It's okay."

"It's Friday," Mia said as though that should mean something. "Why don't you rest up for the races tonight?"

I shook my head then sipped at the bitter coffee. It burnt my tongue a little but I didn't want to talk anymore. Mia looked at me from beneath her eyelashes. I could feel her watching me even when I was pretending to stare out the window even though I wasn't seeing anything. Her gaze was intense and I could feel her scrutinising my every move. She was looking for hints as to what I was doing or thinking. I kept my expression as vague as I knew how to and tried to stop my eyes going glassy so Mia would think I was just looking out at the garden.

"You don't need to go to the races," Mia murmured gently.

I bit my lip. "I'd like to go, it's just..." I trailed off thinking of how to tell her my fear that people would realise I remembered nothing except how to race a car. That I didn't even remember Dom who was supposed to be the love of my life.

Mia raised one eyebrow expressively waiting for me to continue.

"I'm afraid people will realise I don't remember..."

Mia smiled sympathetically. "It only matters as much as you let it matter. Everyone will just be glad to see you. They'll want to know that the legend still walks amongst them."

I felt my stomach flip with panic but again kept my expression unreadable. That the legend still walks amongst them. That title created an unhealthy amount of pressure even though she meant it to be supportive. How could I pretend to be the old me if I didn't even know who she was? All it would take is one idle, careless, untypical Letty comment and people would realise I didn't remember.

I stood for a second longer and then placed my empty cup in the sink. I went and grabbed shoes from my room then my car keys. After that I left. I jumped into the M3 and headed off to think.

I wound up at the beach without knowing how I got there. I just sat on the sand and mulled everything over. I couldn't ever go to the races. Not whilst I didn't remember. I ran my fingers over the grainy sand and sat there almost all day, barely moving just watching the waves rolling further and further up the beach. The sky was turning gold and I was beginning to get shivery before I started to consider going back. Instead of going back I bought chips from a chip shop near the beach and sat at a picnic table and ate them.

I was almost done when a hand reached beneath mine and stole a chip from my polystyrene tray. For a second I was stunned by the abrupt rudeness of the stranger. Then I realised it wasn't a stranger. It was Dom. He sat down on the bench beside me and smiled softly.

I turned towards him. "How did you know where I was going to be?" I asked him gently. I was slightly dumbstruck. How could he know where I'd be?

He chuckled his low throaty chuckle. "Let, I know everything about you. You always came here when you needed time to think, have done since you were fifteen years old."

I felt my cheeks flush with colour. I guess I was one of those people who never changed. A creature of instinct. Even without my memories I'd still felt drawn to this place. He grinned at me and pulled me in under his arm. For a second I just enjoyed being so close to him then I felt confused. Why did I feel so safe when he held me?

"Can I ask you something?" I asked as I carefully extracted myself from his grip.

In reply he silently nodded. It was his way of encouraging me to continue with what I wanted to ask him.

"Why did I come back to LA?" I asked, "Why wasn't I with you?" My question hung in the air, creating an anxious, worried tension. I twisted my fingers together and bit my lip.

Dom drew in a sharp breath and shifted uncomfortably on the wooden bench. He rubbed his fingers against his left eye as he thought of how best to explain.

"You weren't with me because I left you. I left you alone in the DR whilst you slept."

His brown eyes met mine and he waited for my response. I said nothing and inclined my head waiting for him to continue. Why did he leave me? He sighed and I watched as his head bowed under the weight of his confession.

"I left because we had pulled our biggest heist in months with a team thrown together at the last second. It went wrong. You hung from the back of a truck, barely an inch from the ground. As I watched you cling for dear life, I panicked. What if something happened to you? How could I live with the guilt of knowing that my stupid idea had gotten you killed? When I helplessly watched you cling to that truck I thought you would be safer without me."

His lips twisted into a tight line as he waited on my reaction. My stomach was churning, wrenching that he'd left me. From what I understood we'd had sticky spots in heists before. Maybe that one was terrifying for him but he'd never left me before. Why did it change?

"Obviously I wasn't," I muttered. The words were bitter on my tongue and even though they were quietly spoken, they still lingered in the air.

Dom nodded and didn't rise to my bait. "Obviously not but the point is you're alive and safe now and I will never do that again."

As his promise he would never leave me again sunk in, tears trickled down my cheeks. He shouldn't need to make promises like that. That was assumed in a relationship. We were together, a unit, and he'd already separated from me once what was to stop him doing it again? Not words. Words are little more than hollow trinkets until they are lived out.

"Let, are you alright?" He murmured.

I shook my head. "Don't make me a promise if you're not going to keep it."

With that I ran away again. At my car I paused. Where could I go? Frustration welled up inside me. I was in a damn city I didn't know. A city that I should remember but couldn't. I kicked the ground and felt more tears roll down my cheeks freely. At that moment I didn't care if people saw, not that I ever really did. I sank into the leather seat of my M3 and closed my eyes. I hated that I was this wound up about being left by the boyfriend I didn't even recall.

Dom opened the door of the car and crouched on the ground. We were eyes to eye. Clumsily I tried to wipe my tears away. How could someone I barely knew have so much impact in my emotions? I rarely cried. Yet with him every wall I carefully constructed collapsed around me and I was left a quivering mess as every emotion I had suppressed over the past year and a half rose to the surface.

"Let, I won't leave you again. I never forgave myself last time and I can't put either of us through that again." Dom's voice was soothing as he murmured to me. I let myself be wrapped up in his velvety tones and smiled gently.

"Sorry, I overreacted..." I murmured. My head was bowed in shame.

"It don't matter. Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"Home," I breathed. I craved the security that 1327 brought. It was a busy, lively house but everyone in it cared so deeply for each other. It was a difficult place to resist because with its strange unfamiliar familiarity I actually felt comfortable there in a way I never felt anywhere else.

"I'll follow you home," Dom agreed.

He closed the door with a soft thud and I clipped my seat belt on. I drove back to 1327. I pulled into the drive just ahead of Dom. Dom's car rolled to a stop behind mine and he climbed out. I was cold all over now. Shivery from spending all day on the beach and from his confession. I knew it would grind on me for a long time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Letty's POV**

A fortnight passed and Dom and I never mentioned his confession to me on the beach again. We went on like it had never happened which was probably the best way forward but something in me wanted to know more about our relationship. Was I really that easy to leave? Maybe he didn't love me in the way I had been led to believe that he did.

Mia and I sat down to sort out a cupboard that had been bugging her since we'd moved back in. It was literally album upon album of pictures. She wanted it cleared out. She'd found more in the attic and wanted it all tidied up into one place. I couldn't ignore her gentle pleas for help so I agreed to help her out.

Mia started stacking the albums by date and I soon got distracted by my own curiosity and started flipping through the albums examining every picture carefully hoping for something which would spark a memory. Almost every photo of Dom and I saw us standing about an inch apart, barely acknowledging the others presence. Yet there was a few which showed our closeness, me perched on his lap, some where he had his arm around me. Very few proved us to be close.

"You'd barely know we were together," I said to Mia.

Mia chuckled. "You two were more often seen apart than together but you are definitely the strongest couple I know."

I shook my head. "We're both too independent..."

Mia cut me off. "Too independent, yes. You two need each other though. If Dom calls you run to him. If you call, Dom drops everything and races there. You two are strongest together."

"How could anyone believe we were strongest together when he left me alone in the DR?" The words were laced with venom. If he left me to protect me, we obviously weakened each other.

"That's what this is about?" Mia scoffed. "Dom's a man, they're prone to idiocy from now and then, comes with the territory. Dom left you because he was scared you'd get hurt. What he did was wrong. You should have made your decision together but he went ahead with what he felt was best. He was wrong."

"I just find it hard to believe that he loved me so much but could leave me so easily."

Mia smiled sympathetically. I could see she too was conflicted about his decision. As much as she wanted to defend her brother, she disapproved of what he did but tried to understand.

"Letty, he loves you. God, when he looks at you I feel jealous. You're his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. If he didn't love you he never would have travelled to London to come get you. You're like engineered to be together. You bring out the best in him and he brings out the best in you. He did what he did because he loves you so much that he'd rather be apart from you to know that you were safe, than be with you and putting your life on the line."

Mia's eyes softened as she spoke. Out of all of them she pushed me the least to remember but her silent hope was clear. I knew when I put her in an awkward spot like that ones she tried to explain the story behind it.

"Want me to show you how much he loves you?" Mia asked.

"How can you do that?" I asked. I was intrigued. To me there is no way to test if someone loves you. If someone loves you they want to be with you and want what's best for you. I know the old saying " _to live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die."_ To me that was also true. To me love was never forgetting the person you cherished and keeping their memory alive within yourself.

"Come with me," Mia said.

She led me through to the living room and pointed for me to sit in my usual armchair. She flipped through a stack of home movies until she found the one she was looking for. A disc was slid into the DVD player. She fast forwarded the DVD until she was content she'd come to the right spot. On the screen there was a dimly lit image of Dom sat holding a Jack who looked close to sleep.

"Aw Jack you should've met her," Dom murmured, "You would have loved her. God, she would have loved you. To her, you would have been precious. Maybe you'd have shown her that we could have this too, we could have a family. Damn was she adamant that we weren't stable enough for a family." He chuckled. "Maybe we ain't stable enough but we'd try. Your aunt Letty, would have taught you so much. Letty could have shown you your way around a car engine, better than any man ever could. Letty could have taught you how to how to love so deeply you can forgive any sin. Hell, she could even teach you how to swear like a sailor, but maybe that's a good thing you won't learn that. Jack, you've been robbed of the most incredible aunt the world would have ever known and I've been robbed of the most incredible woman I've ever known." He paused. Obviously Jack had fallen asleep. Dom's voice had been that gentle drawl which was soothing, it could have lulled anyone to sleep.

A tear rolled down my cheek and I wiped it away, hoping Mia hadn't noticed.

"Now do you believe me?" Mia asked gently, "If he didn't love you, he wouldn't have told Jack, "Letty could have taught you how to love so deeply you can forgive any sin."

I smiled. "He really loved me."

"Still does."

Mia switched the DVD player off and sat back down beside me. This was so emotional, to be immersed in a family ethic but remembering nothing about them but feeling the feelings you had always felt for them. I could feel that I'd lay down my life for any of them in an instant but I couldn't explain why I would do that.

I muttered a vague excuse up to my room and lay on my bed. For the first time since I'd come to LA I felt entirely alone. They all knew why they loved each other. They all knew things about each other. They had memories. Me, I had nothing but instinct. My gut told me I loved them.

I loved Mia. Mia with her gentle smile and motherly reminders. She was the mother of this odd family. Every morning she made me coffee and sat it on the bench for me entering the kitchen around nine. She was thoughtful. Even though we were polar opposites I knew why we had been good friends. She was easy to talk to and I could tell her anything. She kept me sane and grounded. From what I understood she had prevented me from becoming a complete tear away in school and made me go almost every day.

Then there was Brian. I loved Brian. Yet he felt guilty for my "death." That wasn't his fault. It was mine. I'd wanted to run for Braga to bring Dom home. Yet Brian didn't see it like that. Brian apologised continually. Despite that I loved how Brian was such a good father to Jack. How he was a good husband to Mia. His charm was irrepressible. He was good humoured and good natured.

Lastly there was Dom. Self professed tough guy but with a warm heart. Dom was no tough guy, if anything he was a teddy bear disguised as a grizzly bear. He looked like a tough guy, with those muscular arms and height of six foot three. Then he spoke and it was immediately plain he cared deeply about his family, was loyal to a fault and loved deeply. He asked for one thing in return, and that was that you apply those things to him. When he looked at me, I felt weightless, beautiful, incredible and it scared me that I felt that way. I felt invincible when those deep brown eyes looked at me. Though it was his eyes which gave away his hurt that I didn't remember the fifteen years we'd been together and I hated that. I hated looking into those eyes to see them dull with pain when I didn't remember the joke we'd made that time, the person he was talking about, or the home we'd lived in together. Yet he was willing to wait for me, until I was ready for him. He was going to wait on me to love him again and wasn't expecting me to love him right now. But I did love him, I knew I loved him. I loved everything about him but I couldn't explain why. I didn't want to rush myself in case I was mistaken but he stirred something in a part of me that no one in the last year had come close to.

It was as if there was a knife buried in my chest. I felt guilty for not remembering them. I knew I couldn't force the memories back but I was trying to remember. Sometimes things would feel feel familiar but as soon as it felt familiar the familiarity would fade and I would be left more confused than ever with a growing pit of anguish in my stomach.

How could I ever be part of them if I didn't remember them?


	7. Chapter 7

**Letty's POV**

Saturday night saw me sprawled on the floor with Jack playing with his toys. He giggled as I made his bear dance and he pushed his toy car around on the carpet. He was fairly mobile and could crawl around when he was bothered. He was usually too lazy, instead preferring Mia to carry him around and attend to him as the little angel everyone cherished.

"Bed time Jack," Mia sang, just after seven.

Jack rubbed his eyes and sat up. Immediately he put his arms out to be lifted. Mow lifted him and cuddled him tight. It wasn't even dark out but he was ready for bed. Mia turned him towards me to give me a kiss goodnight. As usual I was left with slobbers all over my cheek but I didn't care. I loved Jack.

Dom was sat in his chair, pretending to watch tv. I'd known he had been watching me play with Jack.

"Night buddy," Dom murmured to Jack.

Jack babbled a reply. It wasn't clear English or language really.

Mia took him upstairs. Dom stretched and I got into the armchair that I had claimed as my chair.

I got distracted by a picture which sat on the mantelpiece and rose to examine it.

"Is this everyone?" I asked Dom gently as I lifted the heavy gold photo frame. I held the photo frame carefully as I looked at a picture of us, probably taken when I was in my late teens.

"Yeh, that's everyone," Dom agreed and he stood behind me. One of his arms snaked around my waist and his chin rested on top of my head. It was hard to deny how I felt about him when he was this close to me. I let myself fit up against him perfectly before pursuing my train of thought.

"So where are they all at now?" I asked pointing at a scrawny chested blonde haired guy. Between his lips he held a cigarette. He wasn't very tall and looked like the baby of the group, maybe a year or two younger than me. Jesse I think Dom had told me his name was before.

Dom cleared his throat. "Jesse. Jesse was shot by Tran and his guys a few years back. See Jesse raced Tran for slips and when Jesse lost the race he fled and well they caught up to him out the front of the house. Poor kid was hit before he knew it was coming." Dom's voice shook slightly as he spoke. He clearly cared a lot for Jesse.

"And Leon?" I asked pointing at a guy with brown hair, slightly on the scrawny side too. He looked as though he was confident with the way he leant against the wall. An easy smile, clearly a winner with the ladies was spread across his face.

"That's Leon. Leon's now living it up in Magaluf with his girlfriend Marie. Sounds like it's fun over there. Nice and warm weather for him and an easy life. He loves it there. He's happy."

"That's Vince," Dom said without me having to ask. "He's dead too. Was shot down in Rio."

Subject closed with the finality of Dom's tone. "He was like a brother to me."

"Man, I'm sorry you've had so much loss in your life," I murmured, wracking around in my brain for something nice to say, "It's like I read in a book one time, to live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die."

"That's true Let."

I stared at the photo for a moment longer. Dom had his arm slung around my shoulders and I had my arm wrapped around his waist. He was wearing the necklace he'd given to me in London, the glittering silver cross was just visible in the photo. He must have given it to me. Beside me stood Mia, her brown eyes creased at the corners with laughter. Vince stood to the other side of Dom and next to him Leon and Jesse. As oddly mismatched a group I'd ever seen, something about us was weirdly charming.

"Dom, how old are we here?" I asked gently, hoping I wasn't provoking him.

"Here," he murmured thoughtfully, "You ain't even eighteen yet in that picture." He took the photo carefully out of my grasp and held it, "No you're only seventeen here Let. It was taken the summer that I got out of Lompoc."

"So how did we get together?" I asked him.

Dom chuckled. "That's a story and a half Let!"

I laughed. I'd concede it was probably quite the tale, quite possibly brilliantly epic in its own way. It would be a real live free or die romance, ride or die in every way.

"So a few days after my Father died, you and I wound up sitting out in the garden together on the wall. That night we'd just had a barbecue as it had been the only way to rouse Mia from her bed which she'd taken to hibernating in as she grieved for our Father. After the barbecue you and I just sat and talked on the wall, you were sixteen about a month before. Damn Let, you were beautiful in the moonlight as we sat on that wall, talking and laughing, you drank a couple of Coronas, swearing like a sailor the entire time. Then the conversation turned heavy," Dom's voice lost the fairytale like tone which had been carrying his story.

"We were talking about your Fathers death and you were comforting me, telling me that if I gave myself time and space to get there, eventually it wouldn't hurt so bad anymore and I'd begin to heal. As you did so you took my hand in yours." Dom took my hand in his as if to demonstrate what I'd done all those years ago. My breath caught in my throat as he took my hand, something so beautifully familiar but also so awkwardly strange.

"Your next words I'll carry with me to my grave, "It's never goodbye." Dom paused as he thought about how to explain what happened next.

"Your words sparked something in me and made me realise my Father was always going to be with me. Those few days since my Father had died I had been on auto pilot, only eating what was placed before me and only sleeping when someone, usually you, reminded me to go to bed. Even at the stock car circuit, I wasn't focused properly." His face was drawn as he clearly remembered the pain he'd felt at his Father's loss.

"That's when I thanked you for everything you'd been doing these last few days. Damn, Let, you were running the show at the house. You were doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning, making me a lunch every day, dragging me out of the garage at night, dragging Mia out of her room once a day. You were sorting out things with the school, so Mia didn't need to. Damn, everything I was supposed to do was being handled by a sixteen year old girl! You told me not to thank you because you'd do anything for us, that we were your family," Dom said with a proud grin.

"When you said that suddenly you were irresistible to me and I couldn't help but lean in and kiss you. Kissing you was like nothing else, nothing has ever come close to what I felt for you in that one kiss. Next thing we were aware of was being upstairs in my room, tangled in the sheets."

I laughed. That sounded like me, move far too fast getting absorbed in the physical side of something rather than the emotional.

"First girl to ever get spending the entire night in Dominic Toretto's bed, quite the achievement when you woke up the next morning I asked you out on a proper date and you agreed with your usual smirk." He shook his head and a grin crossed his face as he thought about it.

"I wound up getting arrested that day for beating Linder with the socket wrench," Dom murmured, "Anyways from that second Letty Ortiz was the boss of 1327 and you ran the joint. The garage was your full time job and you paid the bills every month, sold your goddamn Cobra to pay the bills. You were also the only person who visited me regularly at Lompoc, every month you visited for two hours. On every visit I fell more and more in love with you because of your strength of character. One look in those brown eyes, so well known for the fight which colours them, told me you hated seeing me there and it killed you a little inside but you still came. Then when you described 1327 to me, you didn't talk about the bills or whine about the garage, instead you told me about the cars you were working on, asked for advice if you needed it, told me gossip from around the city focusing on the car scene. Letty that's how we ended up together because damn, if a girl is willing to wait two years for you whilst your in prison for almost killing a man, you know she loves you and you love her."

Despite myself I couldn't help but lean in and kiss him. He was giving me so much of myself in his stories and I loved him for it. Dom was helping me accept parts of my past and thus chunks of my personality with every story he told me. Now I knew I was more than just the tough chick, a portion of my personality I had restricted myself to whilst in London, I was loving, caring, passionate and wild but it was all encased within a tough outer shell. They accepted me for it and that meant the world to me. Dom gripped me close as he kissed me back. Colour flooded to my cheeks and I let myself get caught up in him. My arms wound around his neck and his hands clutched at my waist like he'd never let me go. Against him I fit perfectly and I was actually comfortable. Being pressed up against his muscular chest I felt safe, protected, something I could never remember feeling before.

"Thank you," I mumbled against his lips as I broke the kiss.

"For what?" He asked as he buried his face into my hair.

I sighed. "You're giving me back parts of myself. Letting me see who I was. Maybe if I know who I was I can find that girl again and be her."

Dom sighed slightly and tipped my chin up so I was looking directly into his eyes.

"Letty, I love you. You don't need to be that girl again. Just be you and that's enough."

That was the incredible thing about Dominic Toretto. He just accepted things as they came and refused to let them conquer him. As much as he wanted me to remember he wasn't going to force me into something and for that I was grateful. I appreciated everything he was doing for me.

We ended up not watching a movie and instead talked about the past. Our past sounded crazy. We'd been involved in truck jackings, had fled through Mexico. Immersed ourselves in the life of Mexico before fleeing onwards to the DR where we went our separate ways for a bit and I floated back and forwards to Mexico to spend time with my Mom.

"Dom, how did we ever survive that?" I asked with some doubt.

"I don't know Let, but we did and if it came to it, we'd do it again."

He and I sat in the sofa and kissed for a bit. Nothing had come close to this. The more time I spent with him the more certain I was what I felt for him was love. It felt good to finally place a feeling so absolutely that it couldn't be shifted from that position.

I headed up to bed round midnight with my head swimming. I crawled beneath the covers and fell into a deep sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Letty's POV**

Next morning I woke and panic welled up inside me. I kissed him. He could hardly expect me to fall back into a full on relationship with him. Could he? I wasn't ready for that. I might love him but I only knew that I loved him instinctively. He had a lifetime of memories to back his feelings up. It wouldn't be fair to him. To me.

Kissing him had felt right. So right. Yet it had been so wrong. How could I kiss him? How could I let myself give him false hope? I didn't remember him. It wasn't right. My heart wrenched in my chest. I didn't want to make things awkward by bringing it up but I didn't want to ignore it.

That's when something inside me snapped into action. I got dressed and headed off out the door.

Without knowing where I was going I wound up in the cemetery where Dom had told me I was buried. I didn't know where exactly my grave was at but I decided I might as well see it. I walked through the dew covered grass, feeling my toes get damp in my sandals.

The headstone was at the far end of the cemetery. The black granite glimmered slightly in the early morning sunshine. There it was, my name embossed in the black granite in contrasting white. _Leticia Ortiz, Beloved daughter, sister and friend to all. September 7th 1983 - May 30th 2009."_ The words were impeccably chiseled into the granite.

My breath caught in my throat as I realised it was real. Then I found it funny. Funny that I had been mistaken for dead.

Then it crossed my mind whoever they buried had a family, someone out there who loved them and would have loved the sense of closure that they could have gotten from having a funeral as a means of saying goodbye. I felt tears trickling down my cheeks. Which would hurt more? To have a family who were pain stakingly searching for you only for you to be buried under someone else's name, never to be found? Maybe it was worse to find the person you'd thought was dead but get them back without their memories? How could anyone ever find the answer?

I sank to my knees in front of the grave and cried. That was the date that Letty had died and I was born. The person I used to be had faded into shadow of herself when I'd had the crash. The person I was now was defined by the memories of that horrible accident.

 _I was running from something or someone. That detail was fuzzy. I was pushing over 100mph and the matte grey Plymouth was struggling to keep going. I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles were white, my grip getting tighter with every passing second. My heart was racing and I was sweating underneath my leather jacket. Panic was overwhelming me._

 _A metallic ringing sounded through the air as the car pursuing me clipped the back of my car. My car skidded. The other car knocked into the side of me and I lost control of my Plymouth. It rolled towards the side of the road in a shower of sparks as the metal came into contact with the road. The glass smashed in around me. Sharp pricks tore at my skin. I could feel a trickle of blood running down my forehead._

 _The car screeched to a halt just at the edge of the road. A figure climbed out of the other car. His face obscured by the dark night. I started to rise to my feet, my palms scratched by the broken glass which was scattered across the road. The pain gave me a reason to fight. I bit my lip, repeating to myself to keep fighting on._

 _The shot of a gun rang through the otherwise silent night air. A flash of light burnt my eyes and I fell backwards, striking my head on a rock._

The person I'd been before was defined by fear, a dedicated determination to stay alive and by strength. I knew they were not the traits that defined a person but they were what I'd constructed my personality around. I'd let myself be defined by self perseveration rather than work out who I really was. A sin I was now paying for.

My greatest sin was loving Dom. He remembered the girl I had been. Every beautiful moment we'd ever shared. I didn't. It was a sin to love him as I did, to want him to hold me in his arms and save me from myself. I was self destructive to a degree but so was he. When I looked into his eyes he was my greatest weakness and my greatest strength and I was his.

I'd kissed him. I'd given him false hope. I wasn't ready for a relationship. How could I have a relationship with someone if they knew me in ways I didn't even know myself? He'd know what I'd looked like when I was vulnerable in the morning after a long night in bed. He'd know how to irritate me, how to make me laugh, how to quell a cross mood and how to make me blush. Though I doubted I was the blushing kind. Dom would know me in ways I could never know myself.

Kissing him had sparked a storm of emotions. Even now thinking of running home to him was something which made my lips curve into an involuntary smile. Yet I refused to become dependent on him. He could leave me. As well he should when he realised I remembered nothing, there was nothing to stop him leaving. He'd left me before, hadn't he?

I inhaled sharply. A wise woman leaves before she is left. I'd left him once, well by accident. He'd thought I was dead. I could make the decision to leave him this time. I should leave him. Let him live his life without me. He'd pieced a life together last time with the beautiful Elena, he could do it again with a girl who deserved him. He could do it again with a girl who remembered him.

My mind was made up. I ran my fingers over the gravestone, following the curves of the letters. I'd leave him again. I'd hide away somewhere. Somewhere he'd never think of and I'd go tonight.

Night fell and I went to bed with everyone else as usual. I tossed some things I'd grown attached to into a bag. The cropped red leather jacket, the well worn work boots I'd uncovered in the bottom of my closet and the three photos above my dresser. I wrapped the frames in t shirts hoping they wouldn't break. I dropped in more clothes and lifted a couple of envelopes of cash from my drawer. They had my name on them, it wasn't really stealing? As the thought entered my head I scoffed. When had I ever worried about stealing? My entire adult existence had been earmarked by it going by the criminal record Shaw had given me of my life after I met Dom in London and my life with Shaw.

I pulled on my black bikers jacket and crept out of my bedroom on silent feet, the well practiced cat like walk of a criminal. I skipped the creaky step, seven steps from the top of the staircase.

As much as I debated the idea. I didn't leave a note. I just left. Dom had left me once without a note, I figured he deserved to know how it felt. I didn't remember but I imagine I'd stung over that.

Climbing into the M3 I rested my head against the headrest. Was I really going to do this? Yes. It wasn't fair to Dom. I knew if I was around him much longer I'd fall totally in love with him and want to be with him for a lifetime if I didn't already feel that way. It wasn't fair on me for him to recall everything about me. It wasn't fair for him to have a girlfriend who should know him entirely like she knew herself but didn't know him at all. I couldn't put him through this. This second guessing. Not knowing. Never knowing. It wasn't right. I felt obligated to him more than anyone else. I couldn't hurt him by not knowing. I couldn't subject him to the pain of my lack of memories of the time we'd shared together. I hated that it had taken me kissing Dom to make me realise that what I now was was going to hurt him. I was a shell of myself.

I turned the car on and listened to the hum of the engine. I reversed out of my spot at the bottom of the drive and headed off down the street. Where to go? I could immerse myself into LA or head towards Mexico. I decided quickly on Mexico without ever really knowing why.

An hour and a bit into my drive I noticed headlights behind me. Brushing it off I kept driving until I reached a crummy motel. I pulled over and prepared myself to stay the night in this shitty place.

The motel room was as crummy as the outside had suggested. My room was no bigger than a box bedroom. The bed just about made. The tap in the bathroom dripped incessantly. The plinking noise made my teeth clench and I'd only been in room eighteen for four minutes, if even.

The bed looked grubby but I was almost too exhausted to care. I was just about to climb into the bed fully clothed when there was a knock at my door. I stiffened and shuffled as silently as I could towards the peep hole. I squinted through it to see the kind eyes of Dom.

"Let, open up. It's me," he said in his soft drawl.

Sighing I opened the door.

"What you running for?" He asked as I leant in the doorframe.

"I can't do it anymore."

He frowned and shifted uneasily on his feet. "Do what Letty?"

"I can't do it. Everything. I can't be working in the garage with you. I can't love you the way I do. I can't care for Mia and Brian as I do. I can't love Jack. I can't do those things because I don't remember the reasons why..." My words were lost as Dom's voice spoke over mines.

"Let, can I come in please?" He said as he reached out for me. I stepped out of his way. Not wanting to feel his hands on me. I knew the second his fingers touched me I'd melt inside and I'd be unable to leave him. His touch affected me in a way no one else's ever had.

He sat on the bed, a spring creaked as he did so. I closed the door and leant against it intrigued as to what he had followed me out here to say or do.

"Letty, I've told you before. It doesn't matter if you never remember, we can always make new memories," he said. His voice soft and his brown eyes wide and pleading. "Letty there is nothing you could ever do that would make me love you any less. You've always been the girl of my dreams."

The words spilled from my lips before I could stop them. "The girl you remember is dead. She's not me. I saw her gravestone today."

I watched as my words sunk in and delivered a painful blow. Dom's face fell and he looked wounded. "That gravestone needs to come down. I hate it, it reminds me if I weren't such a shitty person that it wouldn't even be stood there." His shoulders sagged and he ran one hand over his bald head as if to run it through his hair.

I scoffed. He never should have left me. If I knew anything about myself, when it came to him he was my vulnerability. I'd do anything to have him with me.

"It's easy to say now I never should have left you but..." Dom trailed off searching for words, "It's like the buster told me one time, you don't realise how much you appreciate something until someone takes it away. I didn't realise how much I needed you until you were gone."

Words. All fancy. How could I ever know if they were real or not? I was a believer in actions not words. A physical being trapped in a world of actions, I responded to the physical world as I saw it. I didn't respond well to emotions.

"I can see the look in your eyes. You doubt me but I never would have travelled half way around the world to get you back if I didn't love you with everything I have in me."

That was true he'd followed me to London but he hadn't realised what had waited for him there. "Would you have gone to London if you'd realised I didn't remember?"

Dom nodded. "I'd follow you anywhere."

He stood up and moved towards me. His great strides meant he covered the space between us in two steps. Possibly one. His hands rested on my waist, his fingers touching at the back. I almost melted into him but I refused to cave to his touch.

"Now tell me what changed? Why did you run?"

I broke out of his light grip. The weight of my guilt of leaving him or attempting to leave him forced me to sit on the bed. My head bowed in shame. "Because I kissed you."

Dom frowned as he attempted to understand my words.

"I knew once I'd kissed you once, I'd want to kiss you again. I can't put you through the agony of waiting for me to remember or the fact I'm not me anymore. I'm just a shell. You don't even get the whole me, just a fragment of who I was. How could I do that to you?" I asked him, looking up at him.

"Letty, we don't have to be together. I'll never force you into a relationship," he began.

I interrupted him. "Then I was selfish too. How could I be with you knowing you know everything about me and I know nothing about you. I don't know if I'm capable of being with you when I don't even know who I am."

Dom smiled at me understandingly. "You are still the same girl you always have been. Loving. Strong. Compassionate. Determined. No one makes you do anything you don't want to. You're loyal to an absolute fault. Even if you don't see it, I see it and I'll wait forever if it takes for you to see it too. I will always wait for you." His words took on a sudden reverence, an adoring quality.

"How am I supposed to live with the guilt of knowing you're waiting for me? That I'm holding you back?"

Dom shook his head. "You'd never hold me back. I'm nothing without you."

With that he was sat beside me in the bed and his lips met mines again. I kissed him back hungrily. His kisses were addictive and I craved each one more than the last. They were perfectly beautiful. We moved in perfect sync, never unable to find the others rhythm.

When he pulled away, he drew back and looked me right in the eye. His brown eyes met mine and I couldn't help but stare right into them.

"You still going to run away?" He murmured.

"No, I'm going to stay," I said gently. I knew after he chased me he wasn't going to let me go again and I was never going to run away again. Maybe I wasn't so easy to leave and he wasn't going to be easy to forget.

Dom glanced at his phone for the time and a frown creased his brow. "It's almost two in the morning, stay here tonight and go home later in the morning," he suggested.

I nodded. He and I fell into the bed fully clothed and it was the best nights sleep I'd had in all the time I could remember. I finally felt safe in a way I could never remember feeling. The mattress was lumpy and likely infested with bugs but it was amazing to feel him laying there next to me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Letty's POV**

I woke up in the morning with Dom's body curled around mines protectively. I rolled over to see what he looked like in the morning. He automatically shifted position to accommodate my new position without ever stirring from his sleep. In his sleep he looked peaceful. His body relaxed and his entire face calm. He looked younger in his sleep. More vulnerable.

His eye fluttered open slowly and he grinned when he saw me staring at him. His grin allowed creases to form in the corners of his eyes.

"Morning," he murmured in his gravelly voice which was slightly thick with sleep.

"Morning," I murmured in reply.

He chuckled at me and buried his face into my neck, pressing a soft kiss into curve making me wriggle and incline my face towards his.

"What we gonna do today?" Dom asked me as he rolled over to stare up at the damp spotted ceiling. The room looked even dingier in the open, honest light of day.

I frowned. "What do you want to do?" I didn't really know LA well enough to decide what to do in a day.

"We could go to Hollywood boulevard," he said but his eyes were dancing with laughter.

I screwed up my nose with an innate natural disgust. "And hang out with the rich snobs and skanks? Not a hope in hell."

Dom laughed. "That's my girl."

My girl. I liked how the words fell from his lips with ease. They weren't prepared. They were like a familiar caress. Even though they were possessive, a claim at ownership, after eighteen months of not belonging to anyone or being a part of anything, it was refreshing to be claimed, to belong. I was a feminist but when it came to him I didn't mind being his because he was mine.

An idea struck me. "Take me to three places that are significant to our relationship. You know what I mean? Three places where something changed, started, built on or impacted on our relationship."

Dom nodded at my request. "Okay."

He kissed me gently and we rose from the bed. We freshened up for the day. We grabbed something to eat from a diner nearby. Dom organised for Brian and Mia to collect my car and he took me in his car, the 1970 Charger, and we headed off together.

His first stop was a busy street in LA. He frowned as he got out of the car. His eyes surveying every inch of the packed street. I climbed out, anxious not to miss a second of this. If I loved him the way I knew I did, this would maybe help bring back some memories. I didn't even want everything back now, something would be enough. Anything.

He paced down the street, weaving through the crowd. For a second he forgot I was with him and then stopped abruptly to slip his hand into mines. Then he led me through the crowd, making sure he didn't lose me again.

"Okay, this spot right here," Dom said stopping in the middle of the crowd.

"What happened here?" I asked. It was just a spot on the pavement. What could have happened here?

"See where you're stood right now?" Dom tilted his head in question. "That very spot?"

I nodded eagerly.

"In London I told you you got the scar on your wrist the night of your first street race. You were fifteen. That was the night you and I first got together." Dom smiled at me.

"At the time I was driving a Mk 2 Escort, a sapphire blue one. I was eighteen. I was lined up ready to race, just there," Dom gestures towards the traffic lights just under a quarter mile away. "There was four other guys up against me. All real good, solid racers. I was gunning the engine like the others, preparing myself mentally to beat them all. I glanced to my right and I saw this girl. This beautiful girl. For a long minute all I could think was damn, where have you been hiding? Then I realised it was you. You and Mia had dressed up a little for the races. It was supposed to be a pit stop on your way to a club. You looked beautiful in a little red low cut top, it showed enough to be classy but not enough to stop the mind wondering about what was really hidden underneath. Then these black skinny jeans which showed every beautiful curve and combat boots. You looked incredible Let."

For a second Dom paused, closing his eyes. He must have still been able to see it in his mind. The night, the clothes. The unexpected twist that had happened.

"Something in me shifted. I wanted your attention. I had to get your attention. So I did what was natural. When the race started, I began to show off. My eyes were focused on you though. Not the road in front of me. I lost control of the car and everyone beside you ran. You moved out of the way just in the nick of time. I often wonder if I'd been driving a little faster, would I have hit you?"

I bit my lip, waiting to hear the rest. I couldn't even find a similarity between the girl he was describing in his story and the girl I thought I was.

"I knocked myself out. I couldn't get out of the wreck of the car. In a panic you broke the glass with your fist and dragged me out of the car. When I came around you were I knelt over me, your wrist gushing blood but you were fussing over me. Trying to make sure I was okay. When I looked up at you, I thought I'd died. I reached up to touch your face and I don't know I felt like I'd connected with you in a way I'd never felt connected to anyone else."

I smiled. He was sweet.

"I picked this place because it's the place where I realised that I had feelings for you."

I chuckled and squeezed his hand tightly. "That's nice." It was a limp reply but I appreciated what he was doing.

He nodded and looked up at the cloudy sky.

"Okay, where next?" I asked. He pursed his lips and thought.

He led me back to the car and we headed off to his next place. I could tell it would be a bit more random than here. It made sense to go to where it all began. Where he realised he had feelings for me.

He stopped the car on a peak overlooking LA. From here the bustle and hustle of the city could be forgotten. The world was peaceful here, at one with itself. For a second I forgot why we were here and instead just let myself live in the moment. For those few seconds, it was as though everything stopped. It was like stealing a few moments from someone else's life. Someone else's normal life.

Dom got out of the car and leant against the hood. "This is the spot where we first said I love you."

"Really?" I asked, my tone doubtful.

Dom smiled. "Yeh. We've only said those words about a dozen times but we said them here first."

I shook my head in disbelief. "How did we wind up here?"

At my question he shook his head slightly and smiled with fond remembrance. "My Father's two year anniversary had just passed. It was the nineteenth of March. I'd come up here to escape it all just for a while. Back at the house Mia was just rousing herself from what you called her grieving routine. Mia had taken to her bed for the whole day to sob and eat ice cream from the tub and watch bad movies. You let her do that and brought the garage work to the garage out the back so you could be there for her instead of working in DT's big garage. It was my first year out of prison for my Father's anniversary so I didn't exactly know how to cope..."

He trailed off. Suddenly thoughtful. I leant against the hood of the car beside him. My posture mimicking his. Without thinking I reached out to run my thumb across the back of his hand to comfort him. His lips twitched into a sad smile at my gesture.

"I came up here to think. I must have been gone all day. I just sat up here and thought. Watched the people go by with their lives, wondering if any of them hurt the way I did. Wondering how they coped with it. It was getting dark when you showed up. You climbed out of your Nissan and sighed at me. What was it you said to me?"

He paused for a second. The pace of his story and the magic of his words left me anxiously awaiting the rest.

"So I guess I finally found you... Want to tell me why you're here?" I turned to face you. You were leant against the window of my Mazda waiting with your usual smirk for my answer. I told you I needed time to think, to get away. You agreed. We talked about my Father's anniversary. Then I asked you why you started looking for me. For a second you looked like you'd been caught out. That's when you said because Dom I love you and I'm always going to make sure you get home alright."

Dom was cut off by my sharp intake of breath. That sounded so natural, something that a couple who often said I love you said. It didn't sound like the first time. I could feel the colour rush to my cheeks. I was embarrassed for myself.

"The moment you said it your cheeks turned pink like they have done now," Dom said, touching one of my warm cheeks with his finger. "You were so embarrassed it just fell from your lips without you deciding it. To your utter amazement I told you I loved you too. Then we kissed."

I laughed. "I'm sure we did more than kiss."

Dom laughed in agreement. "Of course we did."

I smiled. "Thank you Dom. I appreciate this so much."

He shrugged. "Let, I'd do it a million times more each time with a different memory if that's what it takes to help you remember. Though I'm wondering why tell you about a million times we've shared together when we can just spend time together and share a million more days together."

I frowned as I considered his words then smiled as they sunk in. He had a point. Why tell me all about the times we've shared when we can just make new memories? I wanted him to tell me about them anyways. I wanted to find the girl I was. The girl he remembered.

"We can do both."

He nodded. "Of course we'll do both."

He took my hand then kissed me lightly. He moved on then. His smile bright and he led me to the passengers side. Opening the door for me with a gentlemanly nature I hadn't known still existed.

He drove back to the house and stopped on the front porch. He sat in one of the wicker chairs and sighed. I sat down beside him.

"It wasn't all beautiful moments. We had our first fight on this step."

"What did we fight about?" I asked.

Dom shook his head. "Our first fight, like fist fight with someone else. You and I went up against Tran and Lance. We'd been together about three years if you count my stint in Lompoc. We'd just started working for Tran and had pulled our biggest haul for him ever. We made an absolute killing from him, taking the cash up front in exchange for the goods. Then instead of actually giving him the goods I sold him empty boxes and other shit in amongst it and sold the big, expensive shit to a better buyer. Made double the money. You hadn't a clue that I'd done the double on him."

Rolling my eyes affectionately I conceded a chuckle. That seemed a very Dom thing to do even now. Make the maximum amount of money.

"The look on your face could have killed someone. You shot me a look, seeing through my immediate lies. Tran threw the first punch. He and I fought then Lance tried to double up on me. Yet he wasn't expecting the force of nature that is Letty Ortiz so when you hit him he couldn't believe the force of your punch. Not even ten minutes later you and I walked back into the house with Tran and Lance racing down the street, their tails between their legs so to speak."

I chuckled. We were idiots.

"Then you turned and looked at me and said, "If you were gonna double cross them I'd have thought you'd at least have told me first." Then you stormed inside, giving me the silent treatment you knew I couldn't handle. Your lip was bleeding and your cheek bruised. I could see your knuckles were split and blackening with a bruise but you walked into the house with your head held high."

I grimaced. That sounded like me. Blood everywhere and me seemingly unconcerned.

"Your pride ended about three minutes later when Mia came home and shrieked at the sight of your face. I'd managed to avoid her but you were in the bathroom, cleaning up and she screamed blue murder at both of us until we told her what happened."

I roared with laughter. "She'd still do the same even now."

Dom nodded. "That's very true."

He shifted and reached out for me. I sat on his lap and we just spent the next hour there watching a few cars pass on the street and a couple of kids play on their bikes. It was peaceful. We didn't speak, we didn't need to, we just sat there and watched as the world passed by.


	10. Epilogue

**Letty's POV**

Over the course of the next month I came to fall in love with Dominic Toretto. I kept it as quiet as I could but he knew it. He knew it the same way he inexplicably seemed to know absolutely everything else.

We slipped into an easy pattern. He took me to quiet street races, ones where he knew the crowds wouldn't be as big, he was giving me time and space to adjust. He took me around LA acting as a tour guide and a boyfriend. We visited what had once been my favourite spots in the city.

Other times he was content to not leave the house but simply play on the floor with Jack. I liked those days. Dressed in sweats with a tank top to laze on the floor and play with trucks and tell stories and make funny noises. Those days teased out a side of me I didn't know existed with such an intensity. I never knew I could be so peaceful and get so lost in a moment.

"Grab your coat," Dom ordered one night. It was just after eight. Too early for a street race. We didn't do dinner or cheesy movies. Where the hell were we going?

"Where we going?" I asked as I grabbed my leather jacket. I slipped it on and tossed my hair into a ponytail.

Dom opened the door. "You'll soon see."

If I didn't trust Dominic Toretto with everything that I was I would not have followed him out that door. He took my hand and we headed towards his car. That insanely beautiful, classic Dodger Charger. There was something about that car that made me smile both happily and sadly. I always thought knowing the cars history made it an item to be cherished and hated. It could be cherished as his Father's legacy. Yet I could hate it as such a curse, a curse that had taken Dom's Father from him and Mia.

I opened the passengers door then fell into the seat and sat comfortably back. I secured the five point harness. The only sort of seat belt that seemed to be allowed in this car. Dom jumped in beside me and got ready to drive off. He seemed oddly determined.

About an hour later we arrived at the spot overlooking LA again. Dom sighed as we got out of the car. My heart fluttered in my chest. The view was incredible. Overlooking the city at night. The street lights and the lights on the taller buildings pierced through the dark. It was stunning. It looked like a city that never slept. The bustle of LA was visible even at night.

"You brought me here to show me the view?" I asked with a frown. It was sweet but it wasn't Dom.

Dom shook his head. "Nah, the view is just a nice backdrop."

"Well what's up here then?"

"I'm surprised you don't already see it," his reply was gentle. He was pushing me towards something. Something huge.

I flicked my eyes around before me but all I could see was the city of LA lit up like a Christmas tree. What way did he want me to look? There was nothing more to see.

"I'd look to my left if I were you Let," he murmured. I glanced to my left just moving my eyes slightly. In the darkness I could just about make out the shape of something.

I started moving towards it cautiously. My palms were sweating with anticipation. This could only be good, right? Dom wouldn't bring me up here for something terrible, would he? Behind me I could hear Dom laughing as I moved slowly. He clearly knew I was unsure of myself.

When I was up close I realised it was my Jensen Inceptor from London. I blinked in surprise several times. He didn't bring this out here for me, did he?

"You didn't?"

"Of course I did," he said gently.

"But why would you do this?" I asked, running my fingers over the matte finish. A smile was beginning to shine through involuntarily. I loved this car but I wasn't sure I wanted to bring my old life here to LA. Here in LA I'd wanted to start afresh but somehow having the car I knew well back made me feel somewhat complete here. At least now I had a car I absolutely loved. Not that M3 which I only sort of liked.

"Because I thought it would make you happy and that's all I've ever wanted to do," he said.

At his words I scoffed. "Sappy man, real sappy. Can we skip the girly moment?"

Dom shrugged and laughed his amazing baritone laugh. For a second I couldn't help but laugh at my words.

"We can skip all the girly moments you want after this one," he began, "I love you Letty. I will always love you."

At his words I felt myself smile but a niggling feeling crept into my mind. He'd said those words before but where I couldn't be sure. He'd definitely said those words in that exact order somewhere before. I bit my lip as it struggled to think of where. I knew we'd never said I'd love you to each other in the period of time I could remember him. Hope barely dared to emerge as I thought they could have been words from before.

"I love you too Dom," I replied simply. I couldn't stop the smile across my face getting bigger. I did love him of course I did. He was amazing. Yet I knew I could never fall completely for him whilst he knew our whole history and I only knew the snippets everyone chose to share with me. He had a lifetime of memories but I only had moments.

He stepped towards me and closed the distance between us. His lips met mine in a gentle kiss. I kissed him back softly. Letting myself get lost in the moment. I loved him.

Several long minutes later we decided to head home. Only Dom wanted to drag race first. I readily agreed. We'd never finished that race in London.

Dom led me to the traffic lights near the train tracks where he'd drag raced in high school. It was a straight quarter mile. Only an idiot who couldn't control his car wouldn't be able to do this. This didn't test skill, just control.

I glanced at Dom as we gunned the engine. We'd go when the lights turned green. Our identical, equally competitive streaks easily shone through. First one over the track won the race.

We took off, me flicking up the gears as fast as I could. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Dom doing the same. We crossed the line at the same time.

I rolled down my window and laughed at our attempt. The smell of reek was thick in the air as was the heavy smell of burnt rubber. I loved that smell.

"Did you know that would happen?" I asked Dom after he rolled his window down.

He nodded. "Happens every single time we race. I can never beat you."

"I must hold back on you cause we both know I could kick your ass every time we raced," I joked. I chuckled, a husky throaty noise.

Dom shrugged. "We can race all night. The end is always the same."

I liked that. That the end never changed. It was nice knowing that things didn't change.

Dom started heading in the direction of home. I followed him and was content to do so. For now I felt safe. I wasn't leaving him and he wasn't leaving me. He was my home and I was glad of him. There was no pressure to find myself because I'd suddenly understood he didn't mind if I didn't ever find myself, he was in love with me for me. That was enough for now.


End file.
